Asia-Pacific: Chinese tourism gold rush unabated

Chuck Chiang, Vancouver Sun Columnist01.17.2016

Chinese tourists at The Butchart Gardens north of Victoria. Canada (and Vancouver in particular) are among countries that are targeting the huge and growing interest in international travel among the Chinese middle class.

Despite the recent slide in the Chinese stock markets, the dramatic increase in travel by China’s millions appears unabated.

This remains the biggest pie that several world tourism markets, including China’s own domestic industry, are trying to tap in the new year. Among them are Vancouver tourism officials, who anticipate Chinese tourists will continue to be a key part of the local sector in driving the visitor total to another record high in 2016.

A reflection of how robust Chinese tourism demand is can be seen in the size of investment Beijing is putting into satisfying the masses at home. According to Chinese state media, tourism investment in the country grew by 42 per cent last year, reaching a staggering one trillion RMB, or roughly $220 billion. The trend, the report from the China National Tourism Administration said, ran opposite of general economic trends, where fixed-asset investment growth fell 3.7 percentage points to 10.2 per cent for the first 11 months of 2015.

The China Daily reports national projections that tourism investment will surpass three trillion RMB in the next three years, overtaking the banking and automobile industries in GDP contribution to the country’s economy.

Foreign tourism markets have taken notice, although there are divergent opinions on whether the stock exchange malaise would affect Chinese tourists’ decision to take vacations abroad.

Officials in Thailand, for example, said the country’s tourism sector — along with others like the export industry — will “take a hit” if the Chinese economy continues to slow at a quicker pace than expected, according to a report by Thailand’s The Nation.

Others are more optimistic. Forbes’ Chinese international tourism writer Wolfgang Georg Arlt wrote on Jan. 1 that China is expected to become the fourth largest world source of international tourists this year, only behind Great Britain, the United States and Germany. Arlt even noted Iceland — a Scandinavian country — will receive more tourists from China this year than it will get from Sweden and Denmark.

Chinese tourists spend about $1,286 on average per person in overseas shopping. Britain’s National Tourism Administration reported that Chinese tourists accounting for one per cent of all passengers at London’s Heathrow Airport last year, but were responsible for up to a quarter of the airport’s duty-free sales.

“I said it before, but I will say it again: Chinese outbound tourism — You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!” wrote Arlt in his blog.

One country that plans to hit the market hard is Australia. Channel NewsAsia reports that Canberra, facing a shortfall due to falling commodities prices, will spend A$40 million ($39.9 million) in a campaign to draw“young middle class”travellers with “the confidence (and) also financial means to be able to travel further and stay longer while managing their itineraries.”

As many as a million Chinese tourists visited Australia last year, up from 100,000 15 years ago, spending $7.7 billion in the process.

In a recent interview, Tourism Vancouver vice-president Stephen Pearce said his agency has same strategy, noting the rise of affluent, middle-class travellers who are willing to seek “individualized experiences” far different than the stereotypical tour-group model. That’s why attention has been focused on Vancouver’s viral videos featuring cute pets and Chinese celebrities, he said.

“We have to find ways to make them stop and pay attention,” he said. “Once they stop and start paying attention, then you have the opportunity to sell.”

On a trip to speak with the Vancouver Board of Trade last week, Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson — whose company is partnering with the $600-million Parq project resort/entertainment district/casino adjacent to BC Place, said that tourists from China will continue to be a crucial part of any tourism strategy.

“I think, long-term, we will see outbound Chinese travellers continue to grow,” Sorenson said, adding that projects like Parq will help make the city more attractive to visitors. “Obviously, the weaker the Chinese economy, the more there would be some negative impact, but it will still grow throughout. Ten years ago, there are 10 million Chinese outbound trips per year. In 2013, there were 100 million.

“There were 600 million people travelling during the national holidays in China last October within the country. The resources for most of those people are still growing, more and more people with at least some discretionary income, and they want to see places like Vancouver or Hong Kong or Bangkok or New York.”

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